#I wouldn't be surprised if I end up doing a liveblog someday.

[slowthinkingreader]

The Shadow of The Torturer - Gene Wolfe

(Started May 14th, finished May 25th, 2024)

Takes a long drag of my cigarette. OKAY. I really didn't intend to start another long series of books this year. I've already started my read of Proust. How much have I read of Lost Time? Don't ask me that right now. This book, I'm coming to know, is basically like reading Proust, except instead of following along with the minutia of high-society France in the 20th century, we're somewhere in the far distant future, where the sun has dimmed in the sky and society is contrived in such a way that the ruling powers depend on a guild of Torturers to blindly carry out the punishment they're ordered. There's also fantasy medieval towns and fantasy logic; duels, mythology, time travel, JRPG characters... I could sooner fit what doesn't appear in this book rather than what doesn't.

Full disclosure, the ^ cover art above is not the actual art of the book I own, as I would otherwise put, because I don't own the book, I'm reading this series on my phone, and the cover art that Apple Books supplies to all their books are so ugly I couldn't in good conscience put that shit here for other people to fry their eyes with. Thank me.

Another disclosure; I'm listening to the Shelved by Genre podcast as a companion as I read along. It's really good! It's what got me interested in reading these books to begin with. I'd heard of the Book of the New Sun series before, in a "this series is a classic but the books look very intimidating on the sci fi shelves" sense, but never felt compelled to read them myself until now. I listened to the first episode and realized I would have a lot more fun if I read the chapters myself and then compared my observations as I went along.

In fact, this first book was not that long of a read, but it's very, very dense with information. Not in the sense that the worldbuilding or the plot is especially strange, though it is; the prose itself is so evasive in what it's describing that several times I've had to backtrack to make sure I'm understanding what's even transpiring on the page. You're frequently introduced to foreign expressions and concepts with no explanation as to what it means, and sometimes you're introduced to things that should be familiar, but that are mystified and made foreign.

It makes for a confusing review, but I don't know if I would have enjoyed this book without the podcast as a companion. And I'm not saying that as a complaint. Maybe this speaks more about my own patience and taste, but in a way I feel like the book presents itself so much as a game rather than a singular reading experience. Things of interest are obscured from you; the narrator obscures the truth from you; your ability to parse and identify patterns reveals different things every time you read something, depending on what you seek out. Any one interpretation is bound to be different. I'm trying to imagine myself reading this book alone and finding myself very bored at the prospect. I understand why New Sun has such an involved fanbase; you could hold infinite debate over every detail in this book. I'll keep myself more limited in this review than I could be.

Severian— I love Severian. Awesome, never lies, wise beyond his years, shredded and shirtless all the time, and his sword is huge. May or may not be embellishing his own biography.

Okay I actually don't have much to say about him yet. The book is such that it doesn't exactly resolve anything. I imagine by the end of the series I will be able to formulate something much more like an "opinion" about the "contents", which will hopefully make more sense by then. Until I finish, I have a few thoughts and predictions:

I love the way this book plays with scale. I love how unabashedly *huge* everything is. Can't get enough of massive women and mountains and galactic empires and ocean monsters. Not enough of this in any genre, I say!!!

I honestly have no idea where the book is going wrt misogyny and gender. It's certainly grappling with a lot of interesting thoughts on gender roles and bioessentialism... but to what end, I really can't predict. I wonder how Severian would react to somebody challenging him? If a woman did? If Vodalus did?

What memory could Vodalus possibly be trying to get out of eating corpses. Just any corpses, too? Nobody's crypt in specific you're trying to pilfer? Why is memory something you can extract from eating corpses too I... whatever. Whatever. I'm normal. It's fine.

Maybe I'm too Lord of the Rings-brained, but when I read this, my immediate impression was that he was looking into an eye, with a sharp sclera surrounded by fire:

For the first book of the Book of the New Sun series, The Shadow of the Torturer was intriguing, and enjoyable if only to appreciate the prose, but it hasn't completely sold me yet. 6/10.

[ach-sss-no]

SH liveblog Ch9

First chapter & explanation | Previous chapter

Gollum is surprised in his wardrobe by people coming in to their mice-ravaged abandoned house!

Gollum inadvertently did the homeowner a favor by dealing with the mouse infestation. This will start a trend of 'Gollum increasingly makes the world a better place by accident'

"But passing sinister that so many animals would die without a trace. Poison would have left corpses." So the cat had vanished, after making herself a nuisance. Of course she had!

There's another place where I should have added clarity. Gollum hears this and blames the cat because if the cat was present, it wouldn't be mysterious that the mice are dead.

Lmaoooo Gollum buried bits of mice in the medieval rush floor nooo those are going to rot Gollum nooooo

The tails were chewy and the stomachs were sour. Gollum only ate those bits if he was very hungry, and after the first five mice he had not been so hungry as to bother with the less appetizing parts.

When I was writing this chapter I looked up what parts of mice cats do not choose to eat. FYI. I also looked up the most humane way to kill a rodent. This is not stuff I just happened to know, not this time, but it will be in future. I know it now. I'm not gonna forget about it now that I know it and someday I'll bring it up and someone will ask 'how do you know that?' and I will not be able to tell them that this is how.

And then the cabinet door was opened. Gollum sat stock still. The Man who had opened the cabinet did not see him, it was his companion- apparently sharper-eyed- who spoke. "A vagrant." "Greetings," said the one who'd opened the cabinet, firmly. It seemed that as Gollum was wearing proper clothing and his face was covered, the Men only saw that he had the figure of a human. "This house is mine and I have come back to claim it. You cannot stay here, but I can direct you to where you can find food and shelter."

They're assuming he's a homeless Man and not an orc in part because it would be really unusual for an orc to be able to slip this far into Minas Tirith and stay there so long. It's supposed to have been months since the end of the war. Also, Gollum doesn't really talk like an orc. Or smell like one. And his accent is different. Minas Tirith guys would know orcs well enough to tell.

Gollum runs away and finds a hiding place.

He slunk along as quickly and quietly as possible. Fortunately it did not take long for him to find an entrance to the sewer.

I DREW UPON THE POWER OF VICTOR HUGO, and researched Byzantine sewers in some depth. I don't remember much of what I learned, because it was, umm. boring. But I think I concluded that a city of the technological development of Minas Tirith would NOT have a separate rain sewer and sanitary sewer, poor Gollum, he would love a nice clean stormwater-only sewer

Gollum hides in a little niche in the wall.

Rough, wet rock! The scrape of it on his skin sent enjoyable prickles up his spine- the world of Men was smooth, rounded, soft, without texture. This felt rather homey.

Gollum misses Cave Hobo Bed

Later on he eats a rat.

Gollum followed the rat for some time, hiding in the rough crags of the stone wall. This was an old game for him- an old, old game. He knew it well. But today he was a little slow and clumsy- when he made his final grab the rat flipped around and bit into his wrist before he could finish it off. He examined the wound. The rat's teeth had gone into the side of his wrist, unnervingly close to that big blood vessel that caused orcs to die if someone with more anatomical knowledge bit it intentionally. But not too close. He'd live, but it was an inconvenient place to be bitten and would trouble him for some time. Gollum sat on his haunches and regretted for a minute, licking the bite clean. Then he picked up the dead rat and took it to a more sheltered spot against the wall, where he could sit and pick it over and anyone who might come by would not immediately see him.

I'm still enjoying the subtle narrative shift to 'Gollum in an environment where he knows things, alert and able to interpret accurately to the reader what is happening'. And this is what he's doing, of course.

Oh, I researched rat bites, too...

The sewer rat. OK, here's a place where I had to massively revise my outline, because I initially wrote this from the perspective of a sanitary-culture 21st century wuss. And Gollum was supposed to get an infection or food poisoning or something and have to go home because ew rats icky!!!!! But then I thought, wait a second. This is Gollum. Even post-Ring, I think he has a pretty strong immune system. So he survives his Rat MealTM and actually has quite a bit of fun in the city once he gets used to it, and instead he goes home because he picks a fight later.

And perhaps there was something else that he had not quite realized until now- now that the desire was quite satisfied and no longer poked at him. He was used to a life of constant creeping and prying. Finding secrets and then keeping them to himself (and in recent months, sharing those secrets with Sam and Frodo- but they only got to know what he chose to share). His other experiences with living quietly indoors had involved being kept in a small filthy cell, and had not been pleasant- he was not used to being in a house. And he was definitely not used to being supervised. The strangeness of being kept and minded had become familiar enough that it was not quite interesting enough to keep him occupied anymore. But now he had seen enough of the city to satisfy his need for exploration, and the idea of more travel sounded wearisome and frightening.

Gollum's self-awareness has gone up a level! He's realizing he's feral and was going stir crazy before. This is important enough that I should have alluded to it before but that's the trouble with serial fiction (I had this written several chapters ahead while posting, but usually only in rough draft form)

there was an aftertaste that he did not like at all- no- he suspected the rat might have been eating sewage instead of merely coming here to hide. But he had already eaten it, so it was too late to worry about that. Besides, he had eaten much worse things in the past with no ill effects.

Yeah he'll be fine. He's too delicate for cooked chicken but sewer rat is fine and that's just the paradox of Gollum.

He's so nonchalant about this (of course he eats the poop rat) that I'm forgetting it's not an ordinary thing to be doing myself, lmao

His wrist oozed little drops of blood- the same shade of appetizing red that came from Men and hobbits. He licked the drops away- they had the same coppery taste, the same tantalizing smell as if they had come from a creature that walked upright under the Sun.

Not a guarantee whatsoever. Orcs have black blood.

He hangs out by the storm drain waiting for nightfall. On another occasion, some children scampered past and Gollum thought: If one comes close enough we can grab its ankles and pull it in for a meal, perhaps. He shuddered all over and almost gagged. He had not meant to think about anything of the kind, but it had come into his head from habit. I'm not even hungry, he thought, disgusted.

Oho Gollum is having intrustive thouhts now I see

I guess I was writing the cannibalism as if it was a sort of inflicted mental status that mostly wore off after the Ring because Gollum went pretty quickly from

'*snif Gandalf* is fud? nom nom handses'

to

'haha why are you asking if I ate babies. who cares'

to

'oh it's kind of cringe that I get hungry when I talk about baby orcs'

to

'i didn't eat a baby. don't ask. shut UP'

to

'i thought about eating that child. i'm not even hungry. what is wrong with me?'

At other times, people walked past who were speaking another language. Gollum did not understand it. Naturally, he wondered if they were talking about him. Unlikely, but not impossible, no.

Those kids were randomly talking about him in the last chapter so it's not impossible.

Sindarin is a second language in parts of Gondor and I think is supposed to be especially common in the Capital. But those could also be guys from Rohan speaking Rohirric at this point, I think.

One such conversation involved two women, laughing as they spoke, and sounding happy- then one gasped, and a small object hit the ground outside with a metallic cling. A light sound, a familiar sound- he held out his hand and something fell into it. It was gold. It shone, it was so beautiful, so cool and lovely in his palm. Gollum held it tight in his fist and rocked back and forth. Outside, a woman was searching the ground on her hands and knees, crying out in her language. She was so upset! Mine now, Gollum thought. His heart beat loudly. The woman spoke to her friend in words he did not know, but in tones of distress and loss. Lost. Lost. My Precious is lost. The ring felt so smooth and round in his hand. It was a plain band of gold. The woman outside wept for her lost treasure. Perhaps it had been a present to her. A real present, given by someone who cared about her. Gollum did not quite have the temerity to try it on. It did not belong to him. It was not his. It had never been his. I don't care! he thought. But the Master would not want him to keep it.

Gollum has now gone from

'Frodo (who has partly soulbonded with me) is experiencing my same trauma with my same traumatic item'

to

'This random stranger cares about her possessions just like I do so it would be wrong to steal her stuff'

With a hiss of rage he flung it back out through the storm drain. Cries of shock and relief followed, and then a tense discussion. A wary pair of eyes appeared, looking in at him. He stared insolently back, and slunk away to find another drain to lurk in, just in case the woman went off and told somebody he was here.

You drop your item in a storm sewer. The sewer throws it back at high speed. I would wonder too.

Gollum eventually leaves the sewer, wanders around, hangs out in a tree, recuperates, babies his hands a little, and notes for the first time that he's wearing a child's hand-me-downs. He's becoming more aware of societal and cultural cues. His clothing isn't a random assortment of fabirc bestowed upon him by aliens. It once belonged to a child somewhere, or was at least made for one.

SPIDER TIME

Something moved in the tree. He recoiled, digging his nails into the bark of the tree. A spider. It was tiny, only the size of his hand! Harmless, harmless.

A little kid shows up at random and climbs into the tree next to Gollum. This is Prestien. She's kind of a weirdo and just accepts Gollum's presence and appearance and greets him politely. Gollum says nothing because he is thinking about Shelob.

"Hello," she whispered. [He doesn't answer] "I'm playing hide and seek," the girl whispered. [He doesn't answer] "Are you playing hide and seek too?" the girl asked. "I'm not good at-" "Haha, found you!" one of her snot-nosed friends called from below. [Gollum says nothing. Kills spider] "Thank you," she whispered. "Sssh," he hissed. He had not killed the spider on her account.

Gollum and Prestien are now friends for life, as he will soon discover to his horror.

She looked up at him. "You're very good at hiding," she whispered up at him. "My friends didn't even see you and you were right there!" [He says nothing] "I'm not good at hide and seek," she said. Obviously. Her friend had found her right away. He hopped to the ground and hesitated- the girl was blocking his path. "Leaving," he said.

He asks her the way out.

The city is nice, why do you want to leave? It's lonely and sad outside." "Is it?" Gollum muttered. "It is, it is, but we must go, yes, we must."

I am DETERMINED to keep making Gollum child-coded in this chapter (by running on little-girl logic) even alongside reminding you of the cannibalism with the bluntness of Mjolnir to the face

"The city is a circle, more or less," she said. "With a big mountain behind it. So if you're not going towards the mountain, you're probably on your way out." "Hrm." Gollum leaned back and looked up, to see if he was facing the mountain. He couldn't see past the houses. If he could get up higher he could probably see the mountain, or the big Tower that was at the center- also something he ought to be heading away from, if he wanted to leave.

Oh I guess Gollum doesn't see the mountain because he's nearly eye level with the pavement. OK.

"Prestrien!" a voice called. "Prestrien! Where are you?"

Her name was Prestrien in the name generator. I began misspelling it almost immediately and just kept going with it.

Prestien got a good reception in this chapter so she does return in the epilogue for a cameo. She's too young to be a major part of the story.

I didn't save the meaning of her name anywhere. OH WELL, I GUESS.

The woman looked panicked. She ran up to her daughter and took her arm. "And haven't I told you that you're not to approach anyone you don't know? Who-" The woman saw Gollum and recoiled.

'why are you talking to strangers again- THIS ONE IS LITERALLY MINI SLENDERMAN!??!?!?!?!'

The woman wants Gollum to come with her and offers things until he agrees to follow her home for a glass of water.

I think I might have been attempting some kind of symbolism with Gollum and the water and a nod to the fact that it's canonically the only thing he accepts from Sam & Frodo but I don't know. It's not the first time he accepts water from someone or asks for it, and it won't be the last. The kid telling Aragorn that Gollum is only kind of a jerk in the last chapter was bringing him water. Galil brought him water as well as food. Eardwulf bonded with him after watching him play in the bath. (That's why he's calling him 'otter')

The girl- Prestien, apparently- kept shooting curious glances back at him.

Yep, already dropped that second R

This fic is remarkably typo-free apart from that, though. I should note, maybe, I've done a little bit of freelance work as a proofreader. (Would be nice to find more projects like that sometime)

"No, no," Gollum said. Then a scrap of memory came to him- This very River goes past Minas Anor, my polliwog. Eh, Gran, if it was as big as you says it is I could see it from here! No, no, it's very far away. But you say it's by the same River? A long River, it is. "It's far away," Gollum sobbed. "It's so far away!"

Woe! Grandma memories be upon ye!

He follows them home and it turns out Prestien's mom wanted to show Gollum to her husband who is a city guard.

The woman led him to a large house and bade him sit down outside at the edge of a small garden. He waited by the step, sniffling, and poking at the soil in case there were worms in it. Someone was coming. Gollum huddled in the shadows and tugged his hood over his face. It must be the woman's husband, she had said he would come home soon- and here he was, a tall figure dressed in brightly colored layers. He went inside without noticing Gollum. She had said her husband would come home- she had not lied or tried to trick him into an ambush, he reminded himself, clenching his jaw. But perhaps Gollum should leave. Before he could make up his mind to go, the Man re-emerged with a wry expression, holding a pitcher of water and a cup. "Sméagol?" he called in a calm, quiet voice. Gollum froze, with an involuntary intake of breath.

He hasn't said his name to Prestien or her mom.

"I shall not capture you," said the Man. "I have been warned of you. Many who work in the Sixth Circle have been warned that we may see you, and have been told to warn others that we may see you, and that you are not a bandit, nor are you a starved Orcling." Gollum stood up with a convulsive motion. The Man remained calm. "I've been instructed to leave you alone if you are doing no mischief. I have also been instructed to tell you that you may walk openly, you may go where you will in this city, if you do not trouble anyone; but you are missed- your caretakers are afraid you will come to harm. The Ringbearer is especially concerned for you."

Plot twist! Aragorn knows you left and we're not mad and you're not in trouble but please come back maybe?

Gollum did not answer. His long hands formed a knot near his heart. He could be immensely short-sighted, could Sméagol; he had taken it as a matter of course that people would want to fetch him back if they knew he was gone but it had never occurred to him that Frodo might get involved, nor had it occurred to him that the people looking after him would be put out and might get in trouble- this was occurring to him now.

Gollum is realizing for the first time, I think, that he may get others into undeserved trouble.

"You are welcome to the water." The Man filled up the cup and held it out. Gollum did not go any closer. "It puts it on the ground and goes in the house." "You are in no position to command me, Sméagol, or to address me in such a manner."

puts the lotion on its skin

He did get so terribly thirsty! He recalled that the Men in the guest house had repeatedly made remarks that something oozed out of his skin- and it made things around him slimy and had given someone hives. Gollum did not notice this, perhaps because it had been the case for so long or because he was accustomed to living in wet places. But it must be true, people brought it up so rudely often, and that ooze must come from somewhere. And it must be made of something… He was lucky that Aragorn had not seen fit to hand him over to someone with an interest in natural philosophy!

'Natural philosophy' is the period-appropriate term for 'science'. I've learned since that oddball 'research study' mention in Chapter 2. I should have clarified a little, though; Smeagol is thinking that someone interested in science would want to dissect him and see how he works.

We will see later on that Sméagol has an interest in natural philosophy and that's why he thought of it.

He glanced at the cup- Gollum had left dirty handprints on it. He looked down at his gnarled, filthy hands in dismay.

There's beginning to be a bit of an 'out damned spot' theme.

"Only tell the nice Master he needn't worry about Sméagol, he is used to being on his own, he is," said Gollum. "No one should fret over Sméagol, he has a little job to do, that is all, and then he will be back. And also-" He paused. "No one let Sméagol go, he was very quiet and they didn't know he left, so they shouldn't be punished."

Hey, he's helping. So proud of him!

And as an ending note Gollum is finally somewhat friendly to Prestien.

Gollum started to edge away. A voice rang out from inside the house: "Why do you have webby feet?" It was followed by "Shh! Leave him alone!" from the girl's mother, but Gollum called: "Why do you not have webby feet? Eh? Eh? It is because you do not swim often enough." "It's because you're from the River?" Prestien called. Gollum was about to say 'yes', but he remembered that the Man might not like him to talk to Prestien, and he hurried off before anything could be thrown at him.